The University of Florida Is Bracing For Richard Spencer and White Supremacists

Gainesville, Florida is really only well-known for a handful of things: college football, Tom Petty, and the birthplace of Gatorade. For many years, I knew it best as home. But today at least, Gainesville and the University of Florida will be known as the place where white supremacist Richard Spencer will make his first major speech since the horrifying events in Charlottesville this past summer.

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Tensions are high right now around University of Florida's campus and the surrounding parts of town. Most professors have chosen to cancel classes and exams today, and university ID cards are now required through Friday to enter buildings during all hours, which is a new policy in light of the atmosphere surrounding Spencer’s speech. Some roads are closed, and temporary metal fencing has been raised outside of the Phillips Center, where the event is being held. National Guard members and hundreds of law enforcement officers, complete with K-9 units, are peppered throughout the 2,000-acre campus.

Eric Zamora/UF Photography

It’d be easy to dismiss the University of Florida as a massive, southern school that treats football Saturdays like a holy experience (which is entirely accurate), but it’s heart and soul is the diverse, progressive and welcoming student body and faculty. UF's pride in its diversity is now being challenged by the arrival of Spencer, who famously proclaimed “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory” during a National Policy Institute conference last year. The man who inspired a room full of Nazi salutes will be speaking on the campus home to the largest Jewish student population in the country. Students who are members of Jewish sororities are being cautioned by their organizations to avoid wearing their Greek letters today, according to USA Today. I was once one of those Jewish UF students, and now my younger brother is as well.

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The downtown area of Gainesville, only a couple of miles from UF's campus, saw an "influx of white supremacists and Neo-Nazis" on Wednesday night according to Sami Wax, a Gainesville resident who graduated from UF earlier this year. So far, no violence related to any protests has been reported.

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Ryan Flammia, a UF sophomore (and younger brother of an Esquire colleague), spoke to me Wednesday afternoon about the fear and frustrations many students are experiencing. “People feel unsafe just doing our regular routine. Even before the event has happened, the campus is being terrorized just by the threat of something happening,” Flammia said. The students seem to be split on how best to stand against Spencer's message of white nationalism and ethnic cleansing. While Flammia feels it's best to stay out of the situation entirely, despite wanting to "defend human decency and justice," other students don't see that as an option.

Thierry Bizimungu, a fifth year engineering student at UF, plans to attend campus as usual, "Because that’s what he [Spencer] wouldn’t want to see the most. People from all over the world working together to better themselves and each other, regardless of race or color."

Alamy

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Public universities have previously dealt with the ethical and legal dilemmas that Spencer's events pose. His speech at Auburn University in April was met with outrage and protests, and his speech scheduled for the anniversary of 9/11 at Texas A&M was canceled due to safety concerns, but Spencer will likely push to speak there at a later date.

Spencer’s request to speak at UF was originally denied earlier this year after the disturbing displays of hatred and violence in Charlottesville, which left one woman dead and several injured. The footage of furious white men led by Spencer marching with torches chanting "Jews will not replace us" is a dark reminder of how infected this gaping wound in America's soul has become.

The school could not indefinitely ban Spencer due to the first amendment, but the later date they agreed upon allowed the administration to work with law enforcement on security arrangements, said Janine Sikes, a UF spokesperson. But that doesn't mean the school supports his message.

"We will not cower to hate groups or the venomous rhetoric of Richard Spencer," Sikes said. Holding the speech at 2:30 p.m. rather than in the evening when most UF speaker events occur was “absolutely a safety decision." In an effort to keep today as calm as possible, University of Florida's president, Kent Fuchs, released a video message urging students and faculty to "not provide Mr. Spencer and his followers the spotlight they are seeking".

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Even if UF doesn't endorse the event, they certainly are paying for it. More than $500,000 will be coming out of the university's pocket to cover the comprehensive security plan. Florida Governor Rick Scott also deployed the National Guard to the university for the event after declaring a state of emergency in Alachua County, where UF is located. Spencer told CNN that he was “flattered” by Scott’s declaration, which goes to show that Spencer craves attention above all else and revels in creating chaos.

Students wrote all the things they believe in on a wall in Turlington Plaza ahead of Richard Spencer’s speech

Kevin Hilton

When I called my brother on Wednesday to see how he was doing, he stopped to send me a photo of a wall the students had written on with all the things they believe in. The words "diversity", "love", and "peace" pop up over and over again.

But before we hung up, I told my brother not to tell anyone he was Jewish today.

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